Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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"VALUE TRANSFER SY~TEM~
The invention relates to a value transfer system in which
value is transferred between electronic purses. One such system is
described, for example, in patent application WO 91/16691.
In the system described in the above-mentioned patent
specification integrated circuit cards (ICC's) or "Smart Cards" are used as
application carrier devices (ACD's) to carry electronic purses. An
electronic purse is a program application which controls the storage in
memory on the ACD of a value record which represents "electronic cash".
By coupling two ACD's together via interface devices (IFD's) the respective
purses are coupled together and exchange a series of messages which
results in the transfer of value from one purse to the other.
It is clear that security against fraud is vital in a value transfer
system. The manufacturing process of ICC's and increasingly
sophisticated security measures included in their manufacture and
programming make it virtually impossible to counterfeit the smart cards.
Interception and duplication of the value transfer messages is prevented by
cryptographically encoding messages exchanged in a transaction. In spite
of the extremely high security levels achieved by modern cryptography
there is a theoretical risk that a particular cryptographic system could be
compromised, if not by crypto-analysis then perhaps by a breach of
physical security which leads to leakage of algorithms or keys.
An object of the present invention is to provide a value
transfer system in which the cryptographic system currently in use may be
changed. Administratively, change may be effected as a regular
precautionary measure or in response to an attack on the system currently
in use.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a
value transfer system comprising a multiplicity of electronic programmed
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microprocessor application carrier devices (ACD's) each comprising an
electronic purse having a value store, the ACD's being adapted to be
coupled together in pairs so as to couple the purses and enable value to
be exchanged in transactions between the purses, said value exchange
being effected by exchanges of messages secured by a cryptographic
security scheme, the system further comprising a sequential series of
cryptographic security schemes ranging from old to new and each purse
being programmed with at least two schemes in said series, the purses
being further programmed to identify and use, when coupled in a pair to
exchange value between electronic purses, the older or oldest usable
common cryptographic security scheme of the purse pair and to inhibit
thereafter as superceded any older cryptographic security scheme of the
series in either purse. With this arrangement a first purse can be
automatically switched from an old cryptographic system to a new one on
encountering a second purse which has the new system but not the old.
On being switched, the first purse will then have no usable old system and
then can itself cause other purses to switch to the new system. Thus, by
seeding the population of purses with new purses which omit the old
cryptographic system, the new cryptographic system will migrate through
the population of purses in a chain reaction.
Preferably each purse has a memory region in which is
stored an identifier for the cryptographic security scheme currently in use
by the purse, the scheme identifiers being exchanged between a coupled
pair of purses as a preliminary in a value exchange transaction.
Whilst it is envisaged that the purses may have three or more
cryptographic systems to which to be switched in sequence, in a preferred
embodiment of the invention each purse is programmed with two
successive cryptographic security schemes in the sequential series.
Preferably each cryptographic security scheme comprises at
least one cryptographic algorithm and at least one cryptographic key and
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members of the series differ in respect of their algorithms and/or their keys.
The above-mentioned patent application describes use of the RSA
encryption system, which is an asymmetric public/private key system.
Also there is described exchange of keys by means of the DES system.
The encryption schemes of the present invention may differ from each
other because they employ different single encryption algorithms such as
RSA or DES or because they combine the algorithms of different systems
or because the keys are different.
Successive cryptographic schemes in the series are not
necessarily different. It may be desirable to force current smart cards
towards obsolescence by making them switch to a new cryptographic
scheme even though it is the same as the old one. Thus, in one
embodiment of the invention successive members of the series of
cryptographic security schemes are the same except that they are
associated with different scheme identifiers, the scheme identifiers being
stored in the purses and being used to identify the oldest common
cryptographic scheme of a pair of coupled purses and to control the
inhibition of any older cryptographic security scheme of the series in either
purse.
Furthermore, selected ACD's may be provided with two
electronic purses programmed with respective and different cryptographic
security schemes, said selected ACD's being programmed, on being
coupled to another ACD, to select a purse so as to allow a transaction
between the purse of the said other ACD and the selected purse according
to compatibility of the purse cryptographic security systems.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided
a value transfer system comprising a multiplicity of electronic programmed
microprocessor application carrier devices (ACD's) each comprising an
electronic purse having a value store, the ACD's being adapted to be
coupled together in pairs so as to couple the purses and enable value to
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be exchanged in transactions between the purses, said value exchange
being effected by exchange of messages secured by a cryptographic
security scheme, wherein selected ACD's are provided with two electronic
purses programmed with respective and different cryptographic security
schemes, said selected ACD's being programmed, on being coupled to
another ACD to select a purse so as to allow a transaction between the
purse of the said other ACD and the selected purse according to
compatibility of the purse cryptographic security systems. With this
arrangement it is possible to provide a cut-off strategy for a particular
10 cryptographic scheme or set of schemes. By providing selected purses,
for example retailers and banks, with dual purse smart cards (ACD's), one
purse having the old schemes and the other purse having new schemes, it
is possible to isolate "old money" from "new money" while allowing
transactions with the old schemes to continue, perhaps for a limited time.
The invention will further be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, of which:-
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an application carrier
device in the form of an integrated circuit card (ICC) in a system according
to the invention;
Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating memory allocation in an
electronic purse loaded on the ICC of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a value transfer transaction
between two purses of a system in accordance with the invention; and
Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a purse arrangement for
25 effecting cryptographic cut-off in a system in accordance with the invention.It is to be understood that the present invention is a ~.
development of the value transfer system described in patent application
No. WO 91/16691. That specification describes the use of ICC's as
application carrier devices for carrying electronic purses. The electronic
30 purses have records of various kinds held in electrically erasable
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programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) including value records for
holding value, log records etc. The purse may be coupled via interface
devices to exchange value in accordance with protocols involving the
exchange of cryptographically secure messages. Electronic cash may
5 thus be withdrawn from a bank, exchanged in off-line transactions with, for
example, retailers and redeemed at a bank. For the sake of brevity many
of the technical details of the system will not be repeated herein but where
necessary reference may be made to the above-mentioned earlier patent
specification.
Figure 1 illustrates an application carrier device (ACD) in the
form of an ICC 1. The ICC has on one surface a contact pad 2 carrying
several separate electrical contacts whereby an external power source
may be connected to power the card and a serial communication channel
may be established to transmit data to and from the card. The card
15 includes a microprocessor 3, an EEPROM 4 and a random access memory
5.
The EEPROM 4 holds an operating system which comprises
three sub-systems: (a) a hle manager; (b) a run-time executive; and (c) a
BIOS (binary inpuVoutput system). When loaded, the operating system is
20 used to load into the EEPROM an electronic purse, which is an application,
namely a program with associated data files.
Figure 2 shows some of the elements of an electronic purse
as schematic allocations of regions of the EEPROM. Operation of the
purse is controlled by a program at 6 which has associated data files. For
25 example there is a value record at 7, transaction logs at 8 and a unique
purse identifier at 9. Security is maintained by the use of cryptographic
schemes and this purse holds two schemes. Scheme A has algorithms at
10 and a set of cryptographic keys at 11. Scheme B has algorithms at 12
and a set of cryptographic keys at 13. A crypto file 14 includes three
30 single-byte fields: cut-off domain 15; migration level 16 and migrated flag
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17.
The vaiue of the cut-off domain byte indicates the particular
cut-off domain in which the purse exists. Purses of different domains do
not communicate with each other. Thus, if a major change in the system
5 is deemed desirable from a particular cut-off date then all new purses from
that date will have a new cut-off domain byte at 15. In a particular domain,
a series of cryptographic schemes is defined. For example, in the first
domain there may be the series A, B, C, D, E where A is the first, or oldest
scheme to be used and E is the last, or newest in the series. Each purse
10 includes two successive schemes of the series. The first set of purses will
include schemes A and B, which can be termed respectively the initial and
final schemes for this purse. This set of purses may be called Issue 1.
The migration level byte 16 holds, for example, ~A" which indicates that the
purse includes schemes A and B, namely that this purse is Issue 1 in the
15 cut-offdomain. In a mannerto be described, the purse can be irrevocably
switched from using scheme A to using scheme B. The value of the
migrated flag byte 17 indicates whether this switch has taken place. Thus,
by reading bytes 15 to 17 the particular cryptographic scheme currently in
use by the purse can be determined.
ZO When two purses, X and Y, communicate for a value transfer
the security schemes used are determined by the following rules:-
i) If the current schemes of X and Y are the same then this scheme
is used, and no scheme changes take place;
ii) If the current schemes of X and Y differ, are adjacent in the
cryptographic series, and if the earlier of the two schemes is the
initial scheme for the purse to which it belongs, then a permanent
switch is made in the purse using its initial scheme so that it will
always use its final scheme from now on. Thus the 'final' scheme
is designated the current scheme, and the initial scheme on this
purse is never used again.
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iii) If neither (I) nor (ii) holds, then the purses cannot communicate.
The value transfer cannot take place, and no change is made to
the security scheme of either.
It will be seen that value transfers between Issue 1 purses
take place using scheme A, since this is the oldest common scheme of the
two purses. When it is required to phase out Scheme A an issue 2 of
purses is released containing schemes B and C. When a value transfer
takes place between an Issue 1 and an Issue 2 purse rule (ii) comes into
play and an irreversible switch is made in the Issue 1 purse to use scheme
B from now on. Then, the Issue 1 purse becomes an agent for change
itself, since when a value transfer takes place between it and another Issue
1 purse, which has not been switched to scheme B, then rule (ii) again
comes into play and the second Issue 1 purse is switched to scheme B.
The switching is effected by changing the migrated byte 17 in the
1 5 EEPROM.
Gradually, by a process of osmosis, the Issue 1 purses
switch over to scheme B The changeover will be quite rapid if Issue 2 is
released widely (to retail outiets for example), though in theory one purse
could be sufficient to trigger the whole process.
A change from B to C is carried out in the same way by
creating an Issue 3 with schemes C and D. Once this Issue, and hence
scheme C, are established, Issue 1 purses are no longer usable.
Note that the switchover does not depend in any way on
dates. This is deliberate as dates cannot necessarily be relied on, and
clocks are not mandated for all equipment. No decision on the life of a
scheme needs to be taken when the purses containing it are issued.
Figure 3 shows a point-of-sale terminal 18 at a retailer site.
Terminal 18 is an interface device and holds the retailer's ICC 19 which
includes the retailer purse 1 9a. The customer ICC 1 of Figures 1 and 2
can be inserted into a slot in the body of the terminal 18. In this example
,
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the customer card 1 has a purse 1 a with schemes A and B and the retailer
card 19 has a purse 1 9a with schemes B and C.
As described in the above-mentioned earlier patent
specification a value transfer transaction includes three essential
5 cryptographically signed messages:-
(a) Request to Send - from the payee (retailer) purse to the payer
(customer) purse requesting an agreed
value V.
(b) Payment value - from the payer purse to the payee purse
including the payment command to pay V.
(c) Payment Acknowledge - from the payee purse to the payer purse to
acknowledge receipt of value V.
These are the payment messages and as described in the
earlier patent specification these are cryptographically signed and verified.
Before the payment phase in which the payment messages
are sent there is a pre-payment phase in which information is exchanged
between the purses concerning purse status. This information is
transmitted in clear, i.e. non-cryptographically. Data received at this stage
by one purse from the other purse is "counterparty purse data".
Referring to Figure 3 a sequence of messages is shown for
the transaction between the customer purse 1a and the retailer purse 19a.
Messages above line 20 are pre-payment messages sent in clear and
messages below line 20 are cryptographically signed. Firstly, by sending
interrogation commands to both purses the terminal 18 derives responses
which contain purse status information. Included in the purse status
information is the value of bytes 15 to 17 which collectively indicate the
current cryptographic scheme of the series A to E under which each purse
is operating.
Purse 1a receives a "Payment Start Payer" message from the
terminal 18 and from counterpatty purse data it determines that purse 19a
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.
is currently on scheme B and deduces that it (purse 1 a) will migrate to
scheme B.
Purse 1 9a receives a "Payment Start Payee" message from
the terminal 18 and from counterparty purse data it recognises that purse
5 1a is currently at scheme A and will migrate to scheme B. Purse 19a
sends a Payment Request message based on scheme B and containing
information as to the value of bytes 15 to 17 in its EEPROM. Purse 1a
expects purse 1 9a to be using scheme B. It checks the Payment Request
signature using scheme B. As part of checking the incoming signature, it
10 checks that purse 19a has a correct understanding of what migration will
occur - i.e. purse 1a will migrate and purse 19a will not. In this way any
anomalies can be resolved. For example, it is not possible for both purses
to migrate. If this should be indicated then the transaction is aborted and
neither purse migrates. If the Payment Request signature is valid purse
15 1a migrates irrevocably to scheme B by setting byte 17 in its EEPROM.
Purse 1 a sends a Payment Value message to purse 1 9a.
This is cryptographically signed and includes information concerning bytes
15 to 17, showing that the purse 1a has migrated to scheme B. Purse 19a
uses scheme B to check the signature from purse 1a. Finally, purse 19a
20 sends a Payment Acknowledge message to purse 1 a, signed
cryptographically and including again information concerning its bytes 15 to
17. Thus, it is to be noted that scheme status information is firstly
exchanged in clear between the purses and is then incorporated in all
three of the basic cryptographically signed payment phase messages.
25 The information in these signed messages is derived internally within the
ICC and cannot be simulated externally in an attempt to fraudulently force
scheme migration.
A similar procedure to that described above takes place when
the cryptographic scheme of the payee purse is to be caused to migrate
30 because of a transaction with a customer purse with a newer current
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scheme. Here migration is effected in the payee purse on receipt of a
valid signed Payment Value message.
W~ile the above description relates to progressive migration
to successive cryptographic schemes there may be occasions when it is
5 necessary to implement cut-off. Cut-off is a strategy for abandoning all
cryptographic schemes hitherto in use in a system and re-starting with a
new cryptographic scheme or series of schemes. Cut-off may be
necessary, for example, to force re-call of existing ICC's if a significant
improvement in the system is to be implemented or if a serious breach of
10 security is discovered.
In order to implement cut-off special ICC's would be
introduced into the scheme. The EEPROM of one such ICC is shown in
Figure 4 at 21. The EEPROM has two purses 22 and 23, each with two
cryptographic schemes.
In the event of a security breach, the two purses would have
schemes belonging to an "old" and a "new" series and the two series would
be totally distinct and non-overlapping. However, if the system is not
cryptographically compromised and cut-off is introduced for administrative
reasons it is possible that the two series could be the same. However, the
20 two purses belong to different cut-off domains and have different
respective values in byte 15. The programs of the purses will therefore
not recognise any common cryptographic scheme with another purse
having a different cut-off domain value, since this value is part of the
cryptographic scheme identifier. Thus, purses may exchange value only
25 with purses of the same cut-off domain. Selection of which purse to use in
ICC 21 is made by a program routine which identifies the value of byte 15
in the customer purse from the counter party purse data.
The provision of retailer cards with two purses of different
domains allows transactions to continue with old purses while new cards
30 are introduced. This period of overlap can be time-limited. The
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11
consequence of the arrangement is that electronic cash issued under the
original domain is isolated from that under the new domain so that any
damage to the system as a whoie may be limited.
,
